Conventional approaches to providing entertainment programs for public consumption include broadcasting the programs through programming channels, such as provided with cable or satellite channels or through over-the-air television channels. Such broadcasts generally limit the audience participation to viewing. More recently, entertainment programs have become more interactive, for example, enabling viewers to vote on an outcome by calling or even texting a desired outcome or result. Such user interaction has become more common with reality-based programs and game shows.
With the advance of the Internet and online services, entertainment programs have been able to enhance audience participation with, for example, web-based content. For instance, it is common for television programs to have fan pages, where viewers of the program can see additional video clips, play games, see plot summaries, and contribute their own program-relevant commentary.
More recently, entertainment programs have been created for web-based publication. For example, AROUND THE WORLD FOR FREE is an online reality-series that is published through CBS INTERACTIVE INC. The program's publications include “webisodes”, which provide programming segments in a web page format where audience interaction is encouraged. The use of web-based publications for entertainment programs enables various forms of audience participation, so as to enhance the ability of the audience to experience a program beyond simply viewing it.